Thanks for the welcome LTNman, must day i did wonder what you would say. ive seen and read a lot of your posts on the SEN thread.
I'm not saying the place should be written off and i do think SEN were rather fortunate to have what was effectively a clean sheet to start with.
I just feel that luton seems a bit like an old west country fishermans cottage where bits are added as the family grows and before you know it you sleep in the basement and bath in the loft next door. In short Luton is a bit all over the place, and just not very pleasant;)

Nice to see new destinations from EZY, but these flights will no doubt be at the expense of other routes.

No it will be using the a/c that night stopped in dortmund.

fr-

muckers wrote

I know what you are saying. I have lost count how many times the airport has been upgraded over the years.

A good example are the steps down to the departure gates on the main apron as they face the wrong way. This is because passengers used to walk to the gates from the old terminal now they come in from the opposite direction from the new terminal and have to turn around to descend the steps.

Aesthetically the terminal frontage will improve when they build across the bus station so the old terminal frontage will mostly disappear.

There will also be a major reworking of the inside of the terminal bringing passenger screening downstairs and the almost doubling the number of lanes. All the landside shops bars and eating areas will be moved to the new build at the front of the terminal. Airside will get new seating areas plus many more shops.

I haven't been down there since the top floor was put in the Tinminal, but I do hope the Gates 1-10 area is completely refurbished, both externally and internally, as part of the Masterplan.

Muckers wrote

There is a big difference between the Luton and Southend threads. We are a bit more friendly here as you can say what you like without the personal attacks. If people disagree here then it is debated in a mature way.

We might not always agree with what is said but all views are respected.

No more Aer Stobarts Lingus Arann Regional flights into LTN from tommorow.

I think you will find the service does not finish until 6 January 2013 so a little time yet Runway 08.

Waterford
 

Time for Flybe to step in?

Am I right in thinking that the Waterford route has been operated since the Suckling era?

Flybe would be nuts not to go twice daily on WAT-LTN. None of the other Ireland-London corridors have seen passenger numbers decline like WAT-LON after the Southend experiment. SEN is a fine facility but for the south east Irish market it's just the wrong location and imperfect public transport. No reason why WAT-LTN can't hit 10k passengers a month again by Summer 2013.

Buster even before that, Ryanair Hs748s and ATR42s.
And who can forget Euroceltic with F27s.
Its a well proven route and perhaps someday in the future when Aer Lingus mainline push Aer Arann aside, Aer Arann might lament dropping a route that worked very well for them.

Ryanair last served Waterford with ATR42s (even EI BYO was FR machine), it ended August 1992. BA Express then came in operating a daily J41 on Stansted route...That was Manx Airlines at that time as far as I can remember...

What is the likely hood of another airline picking up the LTN - WAT route ?

I'm hearing whispers about Turkish Airlines A310Fs.

As long as they are day time operations, otherwise they will need to 'whisper' on departure to keep Ladacan quiet !!!!

Confused of Milton Keynes. If the loads on LTN-WAT are viable why are Arann pulling it?

Don't think Flybe will step in - isn't the Dash 400 a big capacity leap.

Unless thy use Sucling/Logan 328s.

My estimation would be that there are bigger opportunities ex DUB for UK provincial routes, furthermore statement from Waterford airport makes reference to the fact that RE are selling an aircraft (may mean returning one to the lessors, not sure), though the route was always in terms of pax a good one on LTN and SEN had improved alot, yet as many commentators have said LTN was a well developed market for the Irish travelling home.

Airlines wont take any chances with new routes that may be perceived as soft by those airlines, the fact that the Q400 is that much bigger than ATR may in itself be a deterent, I only hope that WAT doesnt go the way of GWY.

They probably weren’t but would have been if the route hadn’t been split between 2 airports. Passengers wanting to fly from Luton to Waterford today would have to wait until Thursday so are forced to use Southend or find another way of getting there. Seems they are finding another way to get there.